editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Jeff LundenMon, 02 Oct 2017 08:57:26 +0000Jeff Lundenhttp://whqr.org
Jeff LundenWe Shall Not Be Moved is a new opera that takes its name from both the old spiritual-turned-civil-rights anthem and the Philadelphia black liberation group, MOVE. That group might be best-remembered for a 1985 tragedy: A police helicopter bombed the MOVE house, and the resulting fire killed 11 people and destroyed 62 homes in the neighborhood. The opera, presented by Opera Philadelphia with the Apollo Theater, had its world premiere Sept. 16. It revisits that house and its ghosts, while remaining centered on stories about young people in Philadelphia today. Librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph says that even though the events of the MOVE bombing happened more than 32 years ago, they still haunt the citizens of Philadelphia. "I've heard one person say that the bombing of the MOVE house was like a Sept. 11 event for, you know, people in the city of Philly," he says, "that they'll always remember where they were, and they experienced a collective trauma." So, he and his collaborators — composer'We Shall Not Be Moved': A New Opera Traces The Legacy Of The 1985 MOVE Bombinghttp://whqr.org/post/we-shall-not-be-moved-new-opera-traces-legacy-1985-move-bombing
123584 as http://whqr.orgSun, 17 Sep 2017 21:56:00 +0000'We Shall Not Be Moved': A New Opera Traces The Legacy Of The 1985 MOVE BombingJeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: One of the ingredients a successful Broadway show needs is a talented cast. That starts with talented casting directors, the people who can see a Tony-winning star in the making, say, when a performer walks into an audition as a college student named Audra McDonald. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "CAROUSEL") AUDRA MCDONALD: (Singing) His name is Mister Snow, and an upstanding man is he. SHAPIRO: Casting directors are essential to New York's theater industry. They are not represented by a union or guild, though. Jeff Lunden reports they are trying to change that, and producers are pushing back. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Cindy Tolan has been working in New York and Hollywood for three decades, and she says it's time for Broadway producers to give a little back. CINDY TOLAN: Broadway grossed $1.5 billion last year, and it's the highest in history. And we are 40 casting directors, 40 people who want health insurance and a pension. And you know,Casting Directors On Broadway Seek To Unionizehttp://whqr.org/post/casting-directors-broadway-seek-unionize
122826 as http://whqr.orgMon, 04 Sep 2017 21:50:00 +0000Casting Directors On Broadway Seek To UnionizeJeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: Two shows a day, matinee and evening - that's standard for a stage actor. At least it's the same show. But imagine performing two different plays in the same day. That's what a repertory company does. For our Backstage Pass series, Jeff Lunden followed one actor during a grueling but satisfying day with the Soulpepper Theatre Company. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: First up is a musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology." Gregory Prest arrives backstage at 3:15 for a 4 p.m. show. He signs in. GREGORY PREST: Sign in here, my initials. LUNDEN: He goes behind the stage to check a rack of costumes... PREST: Pretty sure everything is here - and it is. OK... LUNDEN: ...And warms up on his trombone. (SOUNDBITE OF TROMBONE ARPEGGIO) LUNDEN: Then, Prest goes to his dressing room, which he shares with some of the 65 members of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company, who've come to New York to play 11 shows in rep. TheyA Working Actor: Performing In 2 Different Plays On The Same Dayhttp://whqr.org/post/working-actor-performing-2-different-plays-same-day
120159 as http://whqr.orgSun, 23 Jul 2017 12:05:00 +0000A Working Actor: Performing In 2 Different Plays On The Same DayJeff Lundenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WOwWjwm-QY Russian, American and French ballet dancers are gathering Thursday night for a bit of cultural diplomacy at New York City's Lincoln Center. They're celebrating the 50th anniversary of George Balanchine's masterpiece Jewels, considered the first full-length, nonnarrative ballet. Jewels is in three acts, each named for a gem and each with a different choreographic style, representing different periods in Balanchine's life. It's been a signature piece for the New York City Ballet since its premier in 1967. "I don't think Balanchine will ever feel dated to me," says Megan Fairchild, who has been dancing one of the leading roles for a decade. "Especially something as jazzy as [the movement] 'Rubies' — you're off balance, your hips are out, you're, you know, throwing yourself around in extreme positions. It couldn't get any more modern to me ... and then, at the same time, it's still really pure ballet." Pure ballet is the key here — there are no3 Top Ballet Companies Convene For The Golden Anniversary Of 'Jewels'http://whqr.org/post/3-top-ballet-companies-convene-golden-anniversary-jewels
120019 as http://whqr.orgThu, 20 Jul 2017 21:32:00 +00003 Top Ballet Companies Convene For The Golden Anniversary Of 'Jewels'Jeff LundenPulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee has been in the news a lot lately. Albee died in 2016 , and since then his estate has turned down a multi-racial production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and put his contemporary art collection up for auction for an estimated $9 million. Now The New York Times reports that his incomplete works may never see the light of day. The clause in Albee's will is pretty clear: "If at the time of my death I shall leave any incomplete manuscripts I hereby direct my executors to destroy such incomplete manuscripts." Albee's estate wouldn't comment on whether they've followed his orders, but the directive is very much in character — and Emily Mann isn't the least bit surprised. She's the artistic director of the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., and she worked with Albee on several plays. "He wanted to have authority over everything of his that was on the stage," she says. That meant casting, props and even the color of the set. Mann Playwright Edward Albee's Incomplete Works May Never See The Light Of Dayhttp://whqr.org/post/playwright-edward-albees-incomplete-works-may-never-see-light-day
119043 as http://whqr.orgWed, 05 Jul 2017 21:52:00 +0000 Playwright Edward Albee's Incomplete Works May Never See The Light Of DayJeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Here's how Shakespeare can still be controversial in 2017 - when one of the country's most influential theaters presents Julius Caesar in a business suit, a red tie and a blond comb-over. So why is that a problem for New York's Public Theater? Well, if you can't quite remember the play - spoiler alert - Caesar is stabbed to death. Delta and Bank of America have pulled sponsorship. Jeff Lunden is with us at our New York bureau. Hey there, Jeff. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Hey, Audie. CORNISH: So just to set the scene, The Public Theater puts on these free Shakespeare plays in Central Park every summer. This is the Shakespeare in the Park. You've seen this play. How explicit is the connection to the president? LUNDEN: It is very explicit. The moment Julius Caesar walks on stage, as you've mentioned, you see this blond comb-over, this long, red tie. And his wife, Calpurnia, is elegantly dressed. And the moment she speaks, there's aSponsors Pull Support For 'Julius Caesar' That Seems To Depict Trumphttp://whqr.org/post/sponsors-pull-support-julius-caesar-seems-depict-trump
117572 as http://whqr.orgMon, 12 Jun 2017 21:01:00 +0000Sponsors Pull Support For 'Julius Caesar' That Seems To Depict TrumpJeff LundenLillian Hellman's 1939 melodrama The Little Foxes has two great roles for actresses over the age of 40. Laura Linney and Cynthia Nixon fill those roles in a new revival on Broadway ... but with one big twist: Linney and Nixon play both roles and switch off at different performances. It started when Linney got a call from the Manhattan Theatre Club, asking her if she'd like to play Regina Giddens, the steely character at the center of The Little Foxes. Tallulah Bankhead introduced the role and it's been played by actresses from Bette Davis to Elizabeth Taylor. "Women don't get these parts very often," Linney says. "This is a great part." But she was also attracted to a smaller role in the play — Birdie, Regina's abused, alcoholic sister-in-law. "I had always loved Birdie. There was something about Birdie that I inherently understood," Linney says. So, Linney had an idea: What if she and her friend could find a way to share both roles? Nixon was more than game. "I mean, who does that?"2 Stars Share The Stage, And The Roles, In 'Little Foxes'http://whqr.org/post/two-stars-share-stage-and-roles-little-foxes
114447 as http://whqr.orgMon, 24 Apr 2017 21:05:00 +00002 Stars Share The Stage, And The Roles, In 'Little Foxes'Jeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Tonight a musical adaptation of the popular film "Groundhog Day" opens on Broadway. It's the story of a cynical weatherman who's forced to relive the same day over and over again. You may remember Bill Murray's deadpan performance in the movie. While it makes for great comedy, Jeff Lunden tries to figure out if it sings. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Back in the early 1990s, Danny Rubin came up with a screenplay where a man gets caught in a time loop. It ended up in director Harold Ramus' hands, who passed it on to Bill Murray, and, well, the rest is history. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GROUNDHOG DAY") BILL MURRAY: What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered? That about sums it up for me. LUNDEN: That scene with Murray at a bar with a couple of drunks has transferred intact to the musical. Andy Karl plays Phil, the egotistical, perplexed weatherman. ANDY KARL: And theComposer Tim Minchin Brings 'Groundhog Day' To Broadwayhttp://whqr.org/post/composer-tim-minchin-brings-groundhog-day-broadway
113994 as http://whqr.orgMon, 17 Apr 2017 20:30:00 +0000Composer Tim Minchin Brings 'Groundhog Day' To BroadwayJeff LundenMovie fans know that Hollywood opens its most prestigious films every December, right before the Oscar nomination deadline. The same is true of Broadway — except it happens in the spring, before the Tony nominations come out. This year's is an exceptionally crowded season, with 18 shows — half of them musicals — opening in March and April. Last season was all about Hamilton . Everyone knew it was going to win the Tony for best musical, but Barry Weissler, who produced Waitress , didn't care. "They were a super hit, and we even had some of our investors begging us to delay for a season," Weissler says. "'Go to Chicago,' one of them said, 'and then come in.' " But Weissler already had a theater and a cast — and even though Waitress didn't win a single Tony Award, it turned out to be a profit-making hit. While Weissler gambled, though, other shows decided to skip last season. Some of them are opening before the Tony deadline this spring. Scott Mallalieu owns GreatWhiteWay.com , a companyBroadway Producers Reckon With A Crowded Seasonhttp://whqr.org/post/broadway-producers-reckon-crowded-season
112617 as http://whqr.orgSun, 26 Mar 2017 22:27:00 +0000Broadway Producers Reckon With A Crowded SeasonJeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit SCOTT SIMON, HOST: For decades, there have been exactly 40 Broadway theaters all between 41st and 65th Streets in Manhattan. Tonight, a new theater opens that also happens to be the oldest. Are you confused? No one better than Jeff Lunden to clear it up. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: Back in 1929, you could've heard Louis Armstrong sing this on the stage of the Hudson Theatre. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'") LOUIS ARMSTRONG: (Singing) No one to talk with, all by myself... LUNDEN: In 1957, you could've heard this... (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOUND DOG") ELVIS PRESLEY: (Singing) You ain't nothin' but a hound dog... LUNDEN: That's Elvis Presley on the "Tonight!" show with Steve Allen. There is no theater on Broadway older than the Hudson, which opened in October 1903. But there hasn't been a live stage play performed here for almost 49 years. For a long time, it was a radio and TV studio. And Eric Paris, the Hudson's general manager, says... ERIC PARIS:Broadway's Getting A New Theater, Which Is Also Its Oldesthttp://whqr.org/post/broadways-getting-new-theater-which-also-its-oldest
110095 as http://whqr.orgSat, 11 Feb 2017 12:37:00 +0000Broadway's Getting A New Theater, Which Is Also Its OldestJeff LundenCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit SCOTT SIMON, HOST: The inauguration of President Trump is a couple weeks away, and his team has been scrambling to find performers. One group that signed on is the famous precision dancing troupe The Rockettes. And while they are known for synchronization onstage, cracks have begun to show in their ranks. Jeff Lunden sent this report. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: When you see The Rockettes in person - thirty-six dancers of the same shape and height, all tapping and kicking in unison - it's thrilling. ROSEMARY NOVELLINO-MEARNS: The Rockettes are the most famous dancers in the United States of America. They are America. They are apple pie. LUNDEN: Rosemary Novellino-Mearns danced at Radio City, and she wrote a book about it. NOVELLINO-MEARNS: You may like them. You may not like them. That's not the point. They are what they are. LUNDEN: And dancing at presidential inaugurations has traditionally been part of the job, but this time is different. Some of TheSome Rockettes At Odds With Management Over Inauguration Performancehttp://whqr.org/post/some-rockettes-odds-management-over-inauguration-performance
107893 as http://whqr.orgSat, 07 Jan 2017 13:08:00 +0000Some Rockettes At Odds With Management Over Inauguration PerformanceJeff LundenClassical composers have long had their patrons: Beethoven had Archduke Rudolph, John Cage had Betty Freeman. For contemporary opera composers, there's Beth Morrison . She and her production company have commissioned new works from some of the most innovative emerging composers today. Morrison is not your typical moneyed patron, though. "I didn't come from money and I didn't have money and I wanted to live in New York!" she says. She runs her empire from a two-bedroom walk-up apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn. One bedroom in the apartment is for sleeping. The other is a workspace for her eight employees. "I've always run the business from my home, maybe much to the chagrin of my board," she says. "For me, the decision is always really clear: I could spend $30 to $40,000 on an office space every year, or I could put that into a commission." Morrison has commissioned works from David T. Little, Mohammed Fairouz and Missy Mazzoli . Mazzoli, whose first opera, Song from the Uproar , wasMeet The Producer Who Runs Her Opera Empire From A 2-Bedroom Apartmenthttp://whqr.org/post/meet-producer-who-runs-her-opera-empire-two-bedroom-apartment
107793 as http://whqr.orgThu, 05 Jan 2017 22:25:00 +0000Meet The Producer Who Runs Her Opera Empire From A 2-Bedroom ApartmentJeff LundenThe last time New York's Metropolitan Opera presented a work written by a woman was 113 years ago. It's a drought that lasted longer than the years between the Cubs' World Series victories. That situation has finally been rectified this week with the New York premiere of the opera L'Amour de Loin by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. For her part, Saariaho is a little tired of talking about the operatic glass ceiling. "It's kind of ridiculous," she says. "I feel that we should speak about my music and not of me being a woman." Another Finn, Susanna Mälkki — herself only the fourth woman ever to lead the Metropolitan Opera orchestra — is conducting Saariaho's opera. She says Saariaho's compositions have a special voice. "Her language is unlike any other music language of any other composer," Mälkki says. "I don't actually know how she does it, because we are really swept on to a mysterious world of the sounds." L'Amour de Loin , or "Love from Afar," and its composer have both been around'Half Of Humanity Has Something To Say': Composer Kaija Saariaho On Her Met Debuthttp://whqr.org/post/half-humanity-has-something-say-composer-kaija-saariaho-her-met-debut
105979 as http://whqr.orgSat, 03 Dec 2016 13:51:00 +0000'Half Of Humanity Has Something To Say': Composer Kaija Saariaho On Her Met DebutJeff LundenChristmas is coming, and soon TV screens everywhere will light up with that 1946 holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life . But the same story is coming a little early to the stage of the Houston Grand Opera . That's right: An operatic version of George Bailey's struggle with life and death opens this Friday. Librettist Gene Scheer admits that adapting such a beloved movie has sometimes felt like a fool's errand. "It's almost secular scripture, this piece," he says. "Everyone knows all the lines." In the film and the opera, the story is the same. Both look at the life of George Bailey of Bedford Falls: his dreams, his love, his crushing disappointments which bring him to the brink of suicide. "In the end, it's really such an operatic story," Scheer says. Composer Jake Heggie says they had to put the iconic Frank Capra film as far behind them as they could. "You internalize the material: You love it, you memorize it, and then you forget about the original source," he says. The goal, heBringing A Christmas Classic To Wonderful Life — On Stagehttp://whqr.org/post/bringing-christmas-classic-wonderful-life-stage
105883 as http://whqr.orgThu, 01 Dec 2016 23:00:00 +0000Bringing A Christmas Classic To Wonderful Life — On StageJeff LundenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Long before there was "Transparent" or "Modern Family," there was "Falsettos," a frank, funny musical about a Jewish New Yorker who leaves his wife and son for a man. This causes big reverberations in his family. The show, parts of which are 35 years old, is getting a revival on Broadway. Jeff Lunden has this report on how well it's held up, but first a note - you'll hear slang from the '80s which some consider offensive today. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FOUR JEWS IN A ROOM BITCHING") UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Four Jews in a room bitching - four Jews in a room plot a crime. I'm bitching. JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: The first act of "Falsettos" premiered in a tiny theater off Broadway in 1981. Former New York Times drama critic Frank Rich says he was bowled over by how the show captured a neurotic New York energy. FRANK RICH: Just to be hit by this piece was astounding. LUNDEN: With the score by William Finn and directed'Falsettos' Still Resonates In Changed Social Landscapehttp://whqr.org/post/falsettos-still-resonates-changed-social-landscape
103781 as http://whqr.orgThu, 27 Oct 2016 20:31:00 +0000'Falsettos' Still Resonates In Changed Social LandscapeJeff LundenCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Prolific Conductor Neville Marriner Has Diedhttp://whqr.org/post/prolific-conductor-neville-marriner-has-died
102373 as http://whqr.orgSun, 02 Oct 2016 21:07:00 +0000Prolific Conductor Neville Marriner Has DiedJeff LundenYesterday in New York, something very big happened outside Lincoln Center: One thousand people gathered to sing a new piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang . Entitled the public domain , it was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Mostly Mozart festival. One of those singers was our very own Jeff Lunden. He offers this story of how such a huge production is put together, from conception to performance. I've sung at the Mostly Mozart Festival before. We sang, you know, Mozart. But as the name implies, the festival does other things too — so when they commissioned this piece, I signed up immediately. I asked David Lang what all 1,000 of us would be singing about. Community, he said. "What are the things that everyone should share? That we all do together? That we all need?" Lang recalls asking himself at the project's outset. "What are the things that bring us together in such a way that we might actually want to sing about it?" So, Lang did a bunch of GoogleOn The Steps Of Lincoln Center, A Choir The Size Of An Armyhttp://whqr.org/post/steps-lincoln-center-choir-size-army
99595 as http://whqr.orgSun, 14 Aug 2016 12:55:00 +0000On The Steps Of Lincoln Center, A Choir The Size Of An ArmyJeff LundenMiles Salerni, a 25-year-old percussionist, is one of this year's elite instrumental Fellows at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra 's summer home in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. But it took him a while to get there — five tries, to be exact. Many audition for this prestigious training program, but few are selected. When Salerni got rejected for the third time, he knew he had to find another way to get to Tanglewood. So he joined the stage crew — which proved to be more of a challenge than he'd expected. "When I arrived, I was under the impression that I would just be moving chairs and percussion instruments and stands and maybe setting up some risers for the orchestra," Salerni says. "I had no clue that I was gonna be climbing 45 feet in the air, trying to feed a rope through a pulley." John Demick, the BSO's stage manager, remembers when Salerni took on that task. "He got up on the catwalk, and about halfway down, he completely froze and said, 'I don't think I canIf At First (Or Fourth) You Don't Succeed, Join The Tanglewood Stage Crewhttp://whqr.org/post/if-first-or-fourth-you-dont-succeed-join-tanglewood-stage-crew
99464 as http://whqr.orgThu, 11 Aug 2016 22:46:00 +0000If At First (Or Fourth) You Don't Succeed, Join The Tanglewood Stage CrewJeff LundenYou might not know Marni Nixon's name, but you've probably heard her. The singer dubbed the voices for Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady — three of Hollywood's biggest movie musicals. Nixon died Sunday at 86 from complications from breast cancer. Nixon had a career that defied categorization. She performed on Broadway and in opera houses, hosted an Emmy Award-winning children's television show and was a well-regarded singing teacher in New York. She was a clue on Jeopardy! and in The New York Times crossword puzzle and was a question in Trivial Pursuit. Born in Southern California, Nixon became a sought-after singer by the time she was a teenager. She had perfect pitch and was able to read any piece of music handed to her, no matter how difficult. Nixon worked constantly, dubbing voices for Hollywood studios. In 1954, she got a call to ghost Deborah Kerr's voice in The King and I . Kerr understood she needed to be dubbed,'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies At 86http://whqr.org/post/ghost-soprano-marni-nixon-who-voiced-blockbuster-musicals-dies-86
98417 as http://whqr.orgMon, 25 Jul 2016 13:49:00 +0000'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies At 86Jeff Lundenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbVlN9TkzrI Pop music is having its moment on Broadway. The hip-hop musical Hamilton has been a smash hit, and two new shows with original scores by pop stars are opening this week: American Psycho, whose score was written by Duncan Sheik , and Waitress , whose score was written by Sara Bareilles . Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of Hamilton , points out that a few generations ago, people listened to covers of Broadway tunes on the radio. "Musical theater in the 1940s and '50s was the popular music — it was jazz," he says. "You would go hear a Cole Porter song on the radio, and then you would go spend 10 bucks to buy a ticket, hear that song on Broadway that night." Billboard magazine's Keith Caulfield says it wasn't just covers: People listened to cast albums, too. My Fair Lady , The Sound Of Music and Hello Dolly! actually topped the Billboard charts in the 1950s and '60s. "It was a normal occurrence to see musical shows on the charts,"Can Pop Musicals Bring New Audiences To Broadway?http://whqr.org/post/can-pop-musicals-bring-new-audiences-broadway
92773 as http://whqr.orgWed, 20 Apr 2016 20:00:00 +0000Can Pop Musicals Bring New Audiences To Broadway?